This is eighth Modern Slavery Statement prepared by RJ McLeod (Contractors) Limited. The statement is made pursuant to section 54(6) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This document covers the trading year to 29 October 2023 and sets out the steps that we have taken and the planned way forward to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or our supply chain.
RJ McLeod operates in the civil engineering market working from offices in Glasgow and Dingwall. We are one of Scotland’s largest privately owned civil engineering companies, employing some 420 staff and operatives, the majority of whom are long-serving. This helps to enhance our reputation as an employer of standing. The average length of service for our staff is 14.8 years with 56.5% being with us for 10 years or more. The average length of service for our site operatives is 7.1 years and 35.1% have continuous service of 5 years or more.
Since our formation in 1951, we have been associated with a variety of civil engineering disciplines. Today our portfolio includes site infrastructure, public realm, both local and national road construction, energy – generation, transmission and storage – marine, waterways and land remediation and development.
We work solely in the UK and almost exclusively in Scotland. Being a civil engineering organisation our principal suppliers provide goods such as concrete, aggregates, pipes, reinforcing steel and the like and are similarly based in the UK. Our subcontractors also tend to be UK-based companies and provide the construction disciplines which we do not provide in-house such as piling, road surfacing, landscaping, electrical services, fencing etc. We also use labour-only subcontractors for carrying out steel fixing and joinery works as well as complementing our own labour workforce.
Over the years we have developed a tried and tested supply chain where mutual respect has been key to the success of the business.
We have a zero tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery and human trafficking in all its different forms and are committed to acting ethically and responsibly in our business relationships to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not present in any part of our business or supply chain.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to work. We comply with the applicable employment laws and our obligation is to ensure fairness in the hiring and advancement of all employees, both permanent and temporary, without discrimination. All of our staff have a personal responsibility for maintaining a respectful work atmosphere, free of abusive or unprofessional conduct. Every employee is expected to respect other people and treat them with dignity.
Our commitment to respect in the workplace includes our full support for international efforts to promote ethical principles and practices related to the prevention of the exploitation and abuse associated with modern slavery and human trafficking. We also expect a similar commitment to these principles from all organisations with which we do business and will not support or do business with any party knowingly involved in modern slavery or human trafficking.
All our employees have a contract of employment. The contract sets out working conditions, hours of work, holiday entitlement and the like. Hourly paid site workers are engaged under a contract of employment which reflects the ‘Working Rule Agreement for the Construction Industry’, this being prepared by the Construction Industry Joint Council – a body incorporating the employer organisations and trade unions. It is the properly recognised terms of employment for construction companies and is subject to annual review. We are also an accredited employer under the Living Wage Foundation meaning that employees are paid at a level at not less than the Real Living Wage, this being of relevance to the likes of junior site operatives and cleaning and security personnel.
Additionally, all of our employees receive a ‘Starter Pack’ on joining and included in this are our ‘Disciplinary and Grievance Documents’. These documents formally set out the processes to be followed when a grievance is raised or disciplinary action is required. The grievance and disciplinary procedure for our hourly-paid workforce exactly follows the procedures set out in the Working Rule Agreement (WR 22 Grievance Procedure and WR 23 Disciplinary Procedure).
In the main, suppliers and subcontractors are established members of our supply chain and also recognised companies in the UK construction market and hence we have confidence in their meeting the obligations of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Many of our supply chain members are of a size that means they are required to produce their own modern slavery statement.
If we use an organisation for the first time and it is not a recognised, established business then we undertake checks in respect of its practices. On occasion we use organisations out-with the UK but from within the EU, principally companies based in the Republic of Ireland perhaps providing precast concrete products and the like. These are major companies and hence we have comfort that such entities are complying with EU modern slavery legislation.
Our operations mean that we have no direct contact with countries that are generally regarded as being the most likely to have a risk of modern slavery and human trafficking as noted in the Global Slavery Index.
We operate a number of policies to ensure that we are conducting our business in an ethical and transparent manner. These documents can be found on our website:
Furthermore, we have supporting internal procedures including:
In line with Government requirements, our recruitment procedures require that all employees provide evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK.
As noted above, we have been an accredited Living Wage Employer since January 2018.
Additionally, we operate management systems accredited under the British Standards Institute. Within the control of these systems, our procurement processes define the procedures for the obtaining of goods and services from subcontractors and suppliers.
We expect our subcontractors and suppliers to meet with the principles set out in this statement. To satisfy this commitment our terms of subcontract have:
Some of the measures used during the coronavirus pandemic have now been adopted as standard practice for the Company – for instance we now use cleaners during the normal working day as opposed to ‘after hours’ working. We find that the premises – both fixed and site office – are cleaner and make for a better working environment.
We are confident that there are no modern slavery or human trafficking practices within our business. It is impossible to guarantee that such practices are not present in our supply chain but what we can do is identify the risk.
We believe that the risk of such practices being in our supply chain is low and can demonstrate this through the actions we have taken with our suppliers and subcontractors and the training we have carried out with our staff, this being summarised as follows:
We intend to continue to increase our staff awareness of modern slavery practices and also look to further mitigate the risk of modern slavery practices occurring in our supply chain. The following actions will be taken:
Governance
This statement was approved by the RJ McLeod Board of Directors on 11 April 2024 and is available on TISCreport.org and modern-slavery-statement-registry.service.gov.uk